Tuned LS7 V8 surpasses 11,000rpm | Time for Tea
After three years, this EFI Uni engineer has finally made a small block that revs to the moon without breaking up
In an automotive world dominated by turbos and torque, it’s great to see that enthusiasts’ hunger for naturally aspirated revs remains unabated. Both Porsche and Ferrari have production engines capable of revving to 9,000rpm to feed the undying appetite, while Cosworth’s Valkyrie V12 will have its limiter set at an astonishing 11,100rpm to hammer home the point. These fantastic creations are the work of automotive engineering giants, though, which makes this LS7 V8 re-engineered to rev beyond 11,000rpm by one man all the more impressive.
Ben Strader, founder of EFI University in Arizona, chose to use Chevrolet’s crate motor – which is famed more for its toughness and low-down grunt than stratospheric spins of the crank – for an obsessive rev-hunting project. In 2016, when he first set out to build an LS7 capable of withstanding the aforementioned revolutions, the task seemed near impossible thanks to the V8’s tendency to shake its valvetrain into oblivion once the standard 7,000rpm redline had been surpassed.
But in the third year, Ben joined up with Comp Cams (yep, a competition camshaft supplier) and began making significant ground with the small-block unit, edging towards that target – although not without a few failures on the way. In the video below he demonstrates for the first time what the finished product is capable of. Ben’s obsession for revs is made all the madder by his admission that the LS7 block, even in its revviest state of tune, produces a peak of 921hp at 9,300rpm, so the revs it now reaches (just over 11k!) are little more than a statement of toughness. The story itself is worthy of your attention, though – and the motor doesn’t half sound great at full pelt. We recommend the use of headphones…
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